Nino Barraco 'Fior di Bianco' Sicilia IGT (Marsala)

“What can I really tell you? Our strength is agriculture.”- Nino

He is the son of farmers—“not winemakers”—who sold just-fermented base wine to large Marsala houses. His parents’ and grandparents’ generations saw the steep decline of Marsala the place and Marsala the wine.  Once the second-wealthiest city in Italy and one of the first to be industrialized, it has since seen its vineyard plantings decrease by 45% and its wine production by almost 40%.  Of the 50,000 hectoliters of Marsala DOC produced today, only 3-4% is bottled—the rest is shipped off as bulk cooking wine for the food industry, or to be blended as generic wine without origin from Europe.

Nino blazed his own path starting with the 2004 vintage, rigorously organic from the start, producing single-vineyard, monovarietal, mostly white wines of real character, highlighting the sunny, but fresh and salty imprint of this seaside, high-limestone terroir. Nino’s style is oxidative to varying degrees, a heritage from the ancient Marsala technique (pre-British!) that he continues and reimagines. The result is a totally unique juice that is nostalgic and innovative all at the same time. 5% Grillo, 35% Catarratto, 15% Grecanico, 5% Zibibbo from 3ha of vineyards scattered throughout the Marsala zone, with a wide range of topsoils, but with  Marsala's constant layer of limestone not far under the surface.  Some guyot, some alberello.  Vines planted between 2000 and 2008. 0-150m above sea level.  Separate harvests in second half of August to preserve freshness. Separate fermentations for each variety. No maceration.  Aging in stainless. A blend is made pre-bottling.

The subtle white floral note and waxy edge give this wine a little richness- perfect for pre-meal aperitivo, herbed pasta dishes, roasted chicken- very versatile.